


is anyone listening?

by kareofbears



Series: Escapril [3]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Drug Use, Gen, Introspection, i love them...as friends and honest to god confidants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23465041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kareofbears/pseuds/kareofbears
Summary: It’s ironic—the student council president and the brilliant leader of the Phantom Thieves, hopped up on nicotine once a week.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira & Niijima Makoto
Series: Escapril [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685116
Kudos: 65





	is anyone listening?

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3: is anyone listening?

“You’re late.”

“Sorry,” Akira says, stepping onto the rooftop. The rain chills him, even with his blazer. “You started without me?”

He sits on the ground beside Makoto, a cigarette already lit on her lips. “You took too long,” she says, inhaling deeply before passing it to Akira. 

He hums gratefully and takes a drag, feeling the heat seeping into his bones. “Ryuji wanted to chat, and you know I can’t say no.”

“Yes, you could’ve.”

“Got me there.”

Passing it back to Makoto’s outstretched hand, he watches her smoke from the corner of his eye before looking away. 

They’ve got a system going on because he wouldn’t have expected less from a Niijima: only once a week, never tell anyone, and they’ve got to do it together; it’s the only way they’d uphold their end of the bargain. Any more than that, it affects their performance in the metaverse, and that’s something neither of them are willing to accept. 

It was a complete accident that they became some kind of fucked-up smoking buddies. It’s ironic—the student council president and the brilliant leader of the Phantom Thieves, hopped up on nicotine once a week. 

In a way, it doesn’t surprise him. Both of them have responsibilities heavy enough to rival Atlas’, and sometimes, just sometimes, they wish they didn’t need to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders.

So they try and bear it together. 

Makoto passes it back. 

They should stop. He knows it, and he knows that Makoto knows it too. 

He takes it, and breathing in deeply, finishes it off. Letting it slip from his fingers, he crushes the butt of it under his shoe. 

But for now, they’ll take whatever they can get to let go of their crushing anxieties, even if it’s just for a few minutes on a school rooftop.

**Author's Note:**

> wow! not akiryu centered, impossible


End file.
